Helvetia: Chatbot Clara goes live with new GPT technology

Helvetia continues to set standards in innovation and customer experience with its digital assistant Clara. With the Spring 2023 pilot project, customers can easily enter their questions and concerns directly via the website. Following the successful completion of the test phase, Clara is now going live as a standard service using the latest generative AI technology. Jan Kundert, Head of Customer and Market Management and member of the Executive Board of Helvetia Switzerland: "We are delighted to have won over our customers with the Chat GPT project. We are now continuing our efforts to adapt what is now Helvetia's most important self-service channel even better to the requirements of users."

International pioneering role

Helvetia thus offers its customers in Switzerland a better service in the insurance sector, providing simple and uncomplicated answers to questions about insurance and pensions around the clock, and is thus also taking on a pioneering role internationally. Its use continues to be exploratory in the sense of a learning process. Thanks to user feedback, Clara is constantly being developed further. Customer service can be accessed in German, French, Italian, English and various other languages.

Helvetia's most important self-service channel

The digital assistant Clara makes it easy for customers to ask a question or describe a concern. The service is designed to be low-threshold and works without registration. The number of users since the launch of the test phase in spring 2023 proves that this service has been well received. Helvetia expects over 150,000 chats this year - almost twice as many as in the previous year. This means that Clara has quickly become Helvetia's most important self-service channel.

Trust is key

Customer trust is of central importance for an insurance company. This also applies to the use of digital customer services. Although there are currently no binding industry guidelines, Helvetia has decided to go live with the chatbot supported by updated GPT technology.

Helvetia is aware of the resulting responsibility and only uses artificial intelligence within a controlled framework. The data is managed and processed in accordance with the highest security standards and the new Swiss Data Protection Act (DSG), which has been in force since September 1, 2023. For example, users are informed that Clara can also give incorrect answers because these are generated by artificial intelligence. The fact that Clara only accesses verified sources when answering customer questions means that the risk of incorrect information is low, but Helvetia recommends contacting customer advice or using alternative contact options if anything is unclear. Users can also rate Clara's answers. In this way, they help to continuously improve Clara.

AI has long been established at Helvetia

At Helvetia, artificial intelligence has already been in use for several years in numerous applications such as claims processing, fraud detection, underwriting and marketing. Helvetia actively involves its employees, for example in the development of self-learning models. From the company's perspective, the competent and transparent use of artificial intelligence is an important component in the realization of current and future insurance models.

Source and further information: Helvetia